Speaking before the game, coach of the QPS team detective Inspector Garry Watts,  said the police team was selected from a recent carnival at Gold Coast but the Outback side was a “big unknown”.

“Irrespective of the result, the main thing is engaging with the community today,” Watts said.

In the end his boys did alright on the park, matching their north west opposition which consisted of some of the best players in the Mount Isa Rugby League competition.

It was an entertaining and high quality game at Eddie Lee Field and Wanderers playmaker Brenton Stonier who grabbed the first four pointer of proceedings after 13 minutes but the Outback team fumbled the restart forcing an in goal drop out and the QPS side grabbed a try in response.

The kick-off fumbling proved contagious as QPS returned the favour allowing Andrew Lee to grab the second try for Outback much to the delight of his Cloncurry home team crowd.

With the score at 10-6, matters were delayed for a considerable break when a QPS player suffered a leg injury on the field which needed the arrival of the ambulance and he was taken away to Cloncurry Hospital.

Half time was called early and organisers used the opportunity to officially name the Jimmy Clendinning Kiosk at the field.

Both sides came out to play in the second half. Outback kicked off and a favourable bounce allowed Town Lions player Rohan Schulz to steal the ball and cross for what would be among the quickest tries scored in any half of football.

Back came the cops and they bagged the next two tries, the first a speedy break down the field, the second aided by two penalties.

Outback evened it up with a try on the last play of the day in the corner and when Marty Paulson’s conversion attempt just missed out, the ref called time with scores locked at 24-24, a very suitable result for a high class exhibition match.

See our photo gallery from the game on page 14.